My wife Julie and I were out on the road that runs around where we live, when we saw an old worn-out dog stumbling (蹒跚) painfully up the road. We stopped, bent down, talked gently to the dog and patted it. I checked and there was a collar with a phone number. I called but no one answered.
The dog was painfully thin. So Julie ran home to get some of our dog’s food while I tried to encourage the dog. After Julie came back, we sat down on the sidewalk while our new friend made short work of the food. Eventually we got her home.
After trying for many times we got a response from the number. A lady came around with a bunch of flowers for us. She explained that Tara had been her father’s dog. She was very old and got lost that morning. So, Tara was safely returned home.
Here is the truth of the story:
Actually Julie and I were out that morning because I was leaving. She was trying to persuade me to come back, but I wasn’t hearing anything that made that sound likely.
I was about to turn and go when an old black dog walked between us and almost fell down. Suddenly we had something more important than our problem to worry about. There was a creature in need right before us and we had to work together to help it.
We did help it. And here I am writing the story in my own home, in my own family.
In the song “Love Is Not a Fight” Warren Barfield talks about marriage. At one point he sings, “And if we try to leave, may God send angels to guard the door.”
Sometimes angels come disguised (伪装) as dogs.How was the dog when found?
| A．Too weak to walk. |
| B．Thin and worn out. |
| C．Unable to eat food. |
| D．Homeless but gentle. |
From paragraph 2, we know that_______________________.
| A．the dog didn’t go with the writer |
| B．the writer had his own pet dog |
| C．the dog belonged to one of the couple’s friend |
| D．the dog didn’t eat any of the food |
The underlined part “our problem” in the passage refers to the fact that .
| A．the writer didn’t want to take Julie’s advice |
| B．an old black dog appeared in front of them |
| C．Julie disagreed with the writer’s travel on business |
| D．the couple had some trouble with their marriage |
We can infer from the passage that ___________________.
| A．the couple finally took the dog home |
| B．the dog was abandoned by its owner |
| C．the couple also solved their own problem after helping the dog |
| D．it is God that send the dog to help the couple |
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．An Angel Dog |
| B．A Helpful Couple |
| C．Saving the Dog |
| D．A Famous Song |
Being able to multitask---doing several things at the same time---is considered a welcome skill by most people. But if we consider the situation of the young people aged from eight to eighteen, we should think again.
What we often see nowadays is that young people juggle an ever larger number of electronic devices as they study. While working, they also surf on the Internet, send out emails, answer the telephone and listen to music on their iPods. In a sense, they are spending a significant amount of time in fruitless efforts as they multitask.
Multitasking is even changing the relationship between family members. As young people give so much attention to their own worlds, they seem to have no time to spend with the other people around them. They can no longer greet family members when they enter the house, nor can they eat at the family table.
Multitasking also affects young people’s performance at university and in the workplace. When asked about their opinion of the effect of modern gadgets on their performance of tasks, many young people gave a positive response. However, the response from the worlds of education and business was not quite as positive.
Educators feel that multitasking by children has a serious effect on later development of study skills. They believe that many college students now need help to improve their study skills. Similarly, employers feel that young people entering the job market need to be taught all over again, as modern gadgets have made it unnecessary for them to learn special skills to do their work.What does the underlined word “juggle” in Paragraph 2 most probably mean?
| A．Want to buy. |
| B．Take the place of. |
| C．Use at the same time. |
| D．Seek for information from. |
In Paragraph 3, the author points out that ________.
| A．family members do not eat at the family table. |
| B．family members do not greet each other. |
| C．young people live happily in their families |
| D．young people seldom talk with their family members |
What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
| A．multitasking is harmful to young people’s development. |
| B．Young people benefit a lot from modern gadgets. |
| C．Multitasking is an important skill to young people. |
| D．Yong people must learn skills for future jobs. |
The author develops the passage mainly by ________.
| A．providing typical examples |
| B．following the natural time order |
| C．comparing opinions from different fields |
| D．presenting a cause and analyzing its effects |
A “blogger” is a person who writes on an Internet computer Web site called a “blog”. The word “blog” is a short way of saying web log, or personal Web site. Anyone can start a blog, and they can write about anything they like.
There are millions of blogs on the Internet today. They provide news, information and ideas to many people who read them. They contain links to other Web sites. And they provide a place for people to write their ideas and react to the ideas of others.
A research company called Peruse has studied more than 3,000 Web logs. It says that blogs are most popular with teenage girls. They use them to let their friends know what is happening in their lives. The study also says that more than 100,000 bloggers stopped taking part in the activity after a year.
However, some people develop serious blogs to present political and other ideas. For example, the Republican and Democratic parties in the southern state of Kentucky recently started their own blogs. And American companies are beginning to use blogs to advertise their products.
At the same time, some long-standing blogs have ended. Last week, blogging leader Dave Winner closed his free blog service, weblogs.com. He says the site became too costly to continue. He started the blog four years ago, and thousands of people had written on it.
One blog that is still going strong is called Rebecca’s Pocket. It involves much useful information for readers. Rebecca Blood created the Web site in 1999. She wrote about the history of blogs on the site. That article led to a book called “The Weblog Handbook”. It has been translated into four languages so far.
Ms Blood says Rebecca’s Pocket gets about 30,000 visitors a month. She writes about anything and everything----politics, culture and movies. She recently provided medical advice. And she wrote about how to prevent people from stealing money from online bank accounts.The text is written mainly to ____
| A．introduce an Internet computer Web site called “blog” |
| B．introduce a way of reading on blogs |
| C．tell readers about blogs |
| D．tell readers how to write blogs |
From the text we can learn that blogs cover almost everything except __ _.
| A．different ideas |
| B．medical advice |
| C．advertisements |
| D．account codes |
According to this passage , which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Politicians don’t use blogs at all |
| B．A lot of bloggers no longer write or read blogs |
| C．Those who like to use blogs are mostly teenage girls |
| D．Dave Winer closed his “weblogs.com” because of money shortage |
The reason why Rebecca’s Pocket is still going strong is that____
| A．it was created by a woman |
| B．it provides plenty of useful information and advice |
| C．it is about the history of books |
| D．it has editions in at least four different languages |
A Charlotte, N.C., man was charged with first-degree murder of a 79-year-old woman whom police said he scared to death. In an attempt to evade policemen after a bank robbery, the Associated Press reports that 20-year-old Larry Whitfield broke into the home of Mary Parnell. Police say he didn’t touch Parnell but that she died after suffering a heart attack that was caused by terror. Can the guy be held responsible for the woman’s death? Prosecutors(公诉人) said that he can under the state’s murder rule, which allows someone to be charged with murder if he or she causes another person’s death while committing or fleeing from a severe crime like robbery—even if he or she doesn’t kill someone on purpose.
But, medically speaking, can someone actually be frightened to death? We asked Martin Samuels, chairman of the neurology department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Absolutely, no question about it.
The body has a natural protective method called the fight-or-flight response(战或逃反应), which was originally described by Walter Cannon，the chairman of Harvard University’s physiology department from 1906 to 1942. If, in the wild, an animal is faced with a life-threatening situation, the autonomic nervous system responds by increasing heart rate, increasing blood flow to the muscles, and slowing digestion, among other things. All of this increases the chances of succeeding in a fight or running away from an aggressive beast. This process certainly would be of help to primitive humans. However, in the modern world there is obvious decline of the fight-or-flight response.
The autonomic nervous system uses the chemical messenger to send signals to various parts of the body to activate the fight-or-flight response. This chemical is toxic in large amounts; it damages the organs such as the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. It is believed that almost all sudden deaths are caused by damage to the heart. There is almost no other organ that would fail so fast as to cause sudden death. Kidney failure, liver failure, those things don’t kill you suddenly.
By the way, any strong positive or negative emotions such as happiness or sadness can cause the same result. There are people who have died in intercourse or in religious passion. There was a case of a golfer who hit a hole in one, turned to his partner and said, “I can die now”, and then he dropped dead. For about seven days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon there was an increase of sudden cardiac death among New Yorkers.Why the Charlotte, N.C., man was charged?
A. Because he threatened the policemen to kill an old woman.
B. Because he caused an old woman’s terror and she died.
C. Because he beat an old woman and caused her heart attack
D. Because he murdered an old woman while robbing a bank. What is Martin Samuels’ attitude to the possibility of being frightened to death?
| A．Approval. | B．Disapproval. | C．Doubtful. | D．Indifferent. |
Which of the following about the fight-or-flight response is true?
A. The fight-or-flight response was raised and proved by Martin A. Samuels.
B. It is a natural protective method that can’t be found in all creatures but humans.
C. The ancient humans had a superior fight-or-flight response than modern ones.
D. The fight-or-flight response is beneficial to both our actions and organs. What activity can we infer is less likely to damage the organs?
| A．Winning a big lottery. | B．Missing a dead family. |
| C．Watching a horror movie. | D．Listening to a sweet song. |
The purpose of the passage is_________.
| A．to explain why people will die of a heart attack |
| B．to offer some advice on protecting us from heart failure |
| C．to compare different kinds of feelings to cause a death |
| D．to show strong emotions can cause a sudden death |
When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than most of the adults in our community.
When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s goal was to make it a forest.
The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant care and growth. He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them so that each successive tree generation would grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out(淘汰) the weaker trees early on. He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured.
So he never watered his trees. He planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.
Dr. Gibbs passed away a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They’re extremely tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now. However, the trees in my garden trembled in a cold wind although I had watered them for several years.
It seems that adversity(逆境) and suffering benefit these trees in ways comfort and ease never could. I stood there deep in thought.
Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But I think that it’s time to change my prayer(祷词) because now I know my children are going to encounter hardship.According to Dr. Gibbs’ theories, trees will become weaker if they _________.
| A．are lack of care | B．are watered | C．are weeded out | D．are beaten |
According to Para.3 and Para.4, we can infer that Dr. Gibbs’ motto(座右铭) may be .
| A．“Seeing is believing” | B．“Put everything in proper use” |
| C．“Practice makes perfect” | D．“No pain, no gain” |
The underlined word robust in Para.5 most probably means _________.
| A．strong | B．strange | C．deep | D．old |
Which of the following may be the author’s best prayer for his two sons now?
| A．I wish them strong wings, with which they can fly higher and touch the sky. |
| B．I wish them nice fortune so that they can meet people like Dr. Gibbs in the future. |
| C．I wish them deep roots into the earth since the rains fall and the winds blow often. |
| D．I wish them great shades under the tree since the sunlight is always sharp and bitter. |
Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?
A Nice Doctor B. The Deep Roots C. Adversity and Suffering D. My Childhood Memory
Would you like to be a king or queen? To have people waiting on you hand and foot? Many Americans experience this royal treatment every day. How? By being customers. The American idea of customer service is to make each customer the center of attention. Need proof? Just listen to the commercials. Most of them sound like the McDonald’s ad: “We do it all for you.” Actually, not all stores in America roll out the red carpet for their customers. But wherever you go, good customer service means making customers feel special.
People going shopping in America can expect to be treated with respect from the very beginning. Most places don’t have a “furniture street” or a “computer road” which allow you to compare prices easily. Instead, people often “let their fingers do the walking” through the store hot lines. From the first “hello”, customers receive a satisfying response to their questions. This initial contact can help them decide where to shop.
When customers get to the store, they are treated as honored guests. Customers don’t usually find store clerks sitting around watching TV or playing cards. Instead, the clerks greet them warmly and offer to help them find what they want. In most stores, the clear signs that label each department make shopping a breeze. Customers usually don’t have to ask how much items cost, since prices are clearly marked. And unless they’re at a flea market or a yard sale, they don’t bother trying to bargain.
When customers are ready to check out, they find the nearest and shortest checkout lane. But as Murphy’s Law would have it, whichever lane they get in, all the other lanes will move faster. Good stores open new checkout lanes when the lanes get too long. Some even offer express lanes for customers with 10 items or less. After they pay for their purchases, customers receive a smile and a warm “thank you” from the clerk. Many stores even allow customers to take their shopping carts out to the parking lot. That way, they don’t have to carry heavy bags out to the car. By quoting (引用) the McDonald’s ad: “We do it all for you”, the author intends to_______.
| A．suggest that customers believe what commercials say deeply |
| B．show readers the American idea on good customer service |
| C．express all the stores pay much attention to the customers |
| D．persuade readers to choose the stores with ads correctly |
In the USA, what may you do at first if you want to do some shopping?
| A．To visit a professional street with lots of similar stores. |
| B．To compare prices in many shops in the same street. |
| C．To make phone calls and get better shopping choices. |
| D．To receive other customers’ answers to the questions. |
The underlined words “a breeze” in Para.3 most probably means _________.
| A．an easy job | B．a trouble | C．a funny thing | D．a boring task |
Which of the followings shows American stores offer convenience to customers in this passage?
| A．The store clerks don’t usually sit around watching TV or playing cards. |
| B．Some stores offer price bargain to the customers like a yard sale. |
| C．The clerks give customers a smile and a warm “thank you” after paying. |
| D．Some stores open new checkout lanes when the lanes are crowded. |
Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?
| A．Customer Service in America | B．Excellent Stores in America |
| C．Shopping Rules in America | D．Being King or Queen in America |
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